Hearts and Hexes
by x Desert Rose x
Summary: I knew something was off from the day I saw a blue "hummingbird" dropping snowflakes on me, to the summer day that I froze a bench. But never did I think that I was magical. That I was a wizard. …Though it seems a certain myth wizard can't seem to believe that I'm magic, either.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Wizard101. **

I don't know how to explain it. One minute I'm outside, taking my pug for a walk near my high school and the next… I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, I could barely even think as a mind-numbing sensation overtook me and with a poof, I felt an indescribable feeling overcome me. It wasn't exactly _painful_, but it was strange enough to warrant a small scream out of me.

* * *

"Hmph, absolutely _pitiful_. Are you quite certain you have the right person? This_ thing_ hardly looks like a threat to me." I slowly opened my eyes only to see a pair of eyes a color so dark they looked black, staring at me cruelly. Out of pure fear, I shut my eyes tightly again. _This isn't real, this isn't real, this is a dream_. I did not just pop into some random place with some random creep, I told myself. I'll open my eyes, and I'll be back in California, walking Layla. But deep inside, I knew I couldn't be dreaming. Because first off, who randomly starts vividly dreaming while walking their dog? And secondly, the sensation of cold metal against my wrists was much too uncomfortable to just be a part of my imagination.

After taking a deep breath, (but not too deep, as I didn't want to inhale loud enough for whoever else was in the room to hear me) I hesitantly opened my orange eyes (and yes, they're orange, leave me alone).

And I didn't at all like what I saw.

Not only were two pairs of malicious eyes give me a look intimidating enough to scare off a shark with just one glance, but I found myself chained to the wall, rusty cuffs trapping me by the wrist. I couldn't help but let out a shrill shriek, because who wouldn't if they were in my situation?

"Ugh, the little whelp's scream is as awful as a banshee's." Spoke one voice. I turned my head slightly to glare at the speaker, but had to bite back a gasp at what I saw. It was a dragon-like creature around 4 feet tall, even though it was hunched over. It had rough-looking mahogany scales, and was wearing a sage green cloak, for whatever reason. I found it hard to believe that this_ thing_ was capable of human speech, but then again I found it hard to believe that it was possible for me to be here at all. Was there some cult in California that I didn't know about, that involved having lizards wear green robes? That is, if you could even _call_ that thing a lizard. No, I think 'man-eating dragon' was a more fitting description.

I turned my eyes to the other person in the room, the one with the almost-black eyes. His hair was ebony in color, sharply contrasting with his way-too-pale skin. I might even call him a vampire if not for the fact that vampires were supposed to be gorgeous, and this old man was certainly _not_. He had a large hook nose, malicious eyes, and a permanent frown on his face. He was dressed in a strange cloak-like outfit, and all his clothes were black with light orange accents.

And although he looked as human as I did, somehow he frightened me much more than the dragon-thing did.

And I knew this wasn't a dream, but that didn't stop be from disbelieving that any of this could actually be happening. Could it? Where was I, anyway? Because I was starting to doubt I was still in California. I voiced my question out loud, and was surprised when the dragon-thing actually answered.

"You're in Dragonspyre." He answered. Once again, I was shocked to see him open his mouth and speak human words. How this dragon could vocalize human speech was beyond me, but I decided not to question it.

"Okay… and where exactly _is_ Dragonspyre? Are we still in California?" I swept my gaze around the room, looking for a window that I could look outside. Apparently, there was only a single window in the large room, and it just so happened to be on the _ceiling_ so all I could see through it was the sky. And what I saw wasn't reassuring in the slightest. First off, the sky was a deep _red_. Is that even possible? And secondly, I could've sworn I saw something flying through the sky for a second. _And it wasn't a bird._ I quickly averted my eyes from the window, because although I was incredibly curious as to what exactly was soaring through the crimson skies, my own fear shut that possibility out. Because if it was what I thought it was, we were _definitely_ not in California anymore. Or even the United States, for that matter. I focused my eyes back on the dragon-thing in the green cloak, awaiting his answer to my question.

"Dragonspyre is a world of it's own, you imbecile." He huffed then, as if I had offended him by my question. He couldn't be serious. A world of it's own? As in, not on Earth? Okay, you know what? This is obviously just some creepy cult that was crazed off their asses, thinking they could trick their prisoners (Because I had assumed by now that I was not a guest here, by the shackles that bound me to the wall) into believing they had their own world.

"But what—" My question was cut off as the black-haired man shot me a nasty look before saying,

"Don't answer any of her questions. She has no reason to know anything, as she is just here so_ they_ can't have her," he snorted then, as if he found something amusing, before saying "Although I doubt this _human girl_ could do anything, anyway. Ambrose is quite the fool, if he stoops so low as to think that a human could help him now."

Wait, what? At first I was annoyed that he just interrupted me and then demanded that no one answer my questions, but that annoyance soon turned to confusion. He had said 'human girl' as if "human girls" were beneath him. _Maybe humans in general were beneath him, seeing as he keeps dragons for company_, I thought, glancing again at the dragon. For some reason, after the initial shock, I found it easier to believe that this dragon was real. That _all_ of this was real.

Because ever since I turned 18, I had been seeing strange things. Sometimes as I took my dog, Layla, for a walk, I would spot something blue fluttering in a tree, but when I looked up, there would be nothing there. And once, on a particularly hot summer night, I was incredibly agitated because Layla had to get surgery on her leg, and during the peak of my agitation, the bench I was sitting on became colder and colder until finally, it had frosted over. I had told myself I was hallucinating, because benches don't just frost over in 90 degree weather. And for the past couple of days, I had been feeling extremely apprehensive and jumpy, and sometimes my breath would start coming out foggy even though it was summer. But that didn't make any sense… _None _of this made sense.

Even though the black-haired man had strictly told me that no one could answer my questions, I thought I may as well ask him what his name was. I cleared my throat, and hesitantly called out,

"So, what's your name? If you're going to keep me here I may as well know what to refer to you as." I said. He turned his black eyes onto me, and gave me a cold stare. For a second I thought he wasn't going to answer, before he said,

"Malistaire. Remember that, young wizard." Malistaire, huh? That sounded pretty sinister. But then it hit me what he had called me: young wizard. The way he said those two words was as if it was an inside joke to him, like he doubted I was actually a wizard. And of course I wasn't a wizard! They didn't exist!

But then a small voice inside me said, _if dragons can exist, why not wizards?_ I decided I had been receiving way too much crazy information today, and I was just done. Not to mention incredibly tired. It had been around 9 o'clock at night when I was taking Layla for her evening walk, and it was probably around 10 now.

I looked back up towards the window, and saw that the blood red sky had faded into a deep ianthine purple. Although the shade of purple was a bit disconcerting and spooky, it was better than red any day.

I gave a heavy yawn, and then yawned again shortly after. All this time Malistaire and the dragon had been speaking to each other in low voices, and would occasionally shoot a furtive glance at me. When my first two yawns didn't grab their attention, I yawned a third time, making sure it was loud and obnoxious. _YAAAWWNN_. Malistaire sighed, and then turned to me.

"Alright, I suppose we can take you to your cell now." He said, and I gave a relieved sigh. Finally, these annoying metal shackles could be taken off of my wrist now. But I was obviously wrong as he didn't even try to unlock my shackles, and instead he unclasped the chain that connected the shackles to the wall, and used those to drag me through a large wooden door and through a narrow hallway. He continued walking, and as we passed a window in the hall, I looked outside and couldn't control that shocked gasp that escaped me.

There was_ lava._

Fiery orange, molten lava just pouring in streams. It was _terrifying_. And the ground looked like burnt purple rock, with deep lava-filled cracks everywhere. The red sky was nothing compared to the scenery outside the window.

We continued trudging through the halls for like ten minutes. Just how big was this place? Finally, we came across a plain looking door, which Malistaire opened. He led me in, but instead of furniture inside, all that was in the room was a set of stairs leading downwards, into an empty darkness. Malistaire didn't hesitate as he walked in the direction of those creepy-ass stairs, and the chains of the shackles bound me to follow him. I began the descent down the stairs, shuddering as with each step my surroundings became darker.

Suddenly, a _whoosh_ was heard, as if the air had been disturbed.

Malistaire instantly whirled around, brandishing a staffy-thing that he held out in front of him.

Hah, like a fancy stick could protect him from whatever it was that made the whoosh.

His sudden motion caused my own balance to be skewed, and I stumbled a bit but managed to stay on my feet. Before I could even gather my wits again, Malistaire was walking back up the stairs and the shackles dragged me along with him. _Damned shackles. _

"Ambrose!" He growled, pointing the fancy stick at an elderly-looking man wearing a funny-looking wizard hat and - wait, how did the wizard-hat man get here anyway? I could have sworn no one was behind us.

"Malistaire. Have you really stooped so low as to kidnap a magicless young girl?" The wizard-hat guy looked at me with elderly blue eyes. But while Malistaire's stare was harsh and malicious, this guy reminded me more of a friendly grandfather. _And what did he mean by "magicless?"_

"Don't try to deceive me, you doddering fool. I know this girl far from magicless." He snarled. Okay, _what the fuck was going on?_ Far from magicless? Little old me?

"Malistaire, I am sorry it has come to this." The wizard-hat man said in a resigned tone, before he raised his own fancy stick. Actually, it wasn't a fancy stick. It looked more like a magic wand than anything, and had a glowing red aura around it.

And the next thing I knew, sparks were literally flying from both of their fancy sti—no, _wands_ and random creatures started popping up everywhere, attacking both of them. It was absolutely chaotic. _Too_ chaotic for me, as black dots started eating up my vision before they took over, and I was lost.

* * *

"Poor child. She passed out when Malistaire cast a doom-and-gloom." A voice said above me, barely registering in my hazy mind.

_"Hooo,_ maybe she isn't ready for her new life yet." An owl-like voice cooed.

"I suppose not. She must go back home—for now, at least." My head was pounding, and recollections of what had happened earlier flicked through my mind before I was swallowed by darkness once again.

* * *

**Authors Note: Hallo! This is the prologue to the new fic I am writing, 'Hearts and Hexes!' If you don't know the storyline of the online video game called Wizard101, then you probably will be very very confused throughout this entire fic. **

**Leave a review please! ^^ I LOVE READING REVIEWS.**


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